Since well.... a while ago Sluggy has been a big part
of this Strife. First publishing his creations at the
Chasm of Strife, it wasn't long before he was drawing
my weekly mini-Mavs and creating funky movie posters
for all the Strife films being produced.
Now learn more about the man behind the madness, it's
Sluggy!

How did you first hear about This Strife and what were
your first impressions, of the site, comics and the
community (honestly) >=)

I
first heard about This Strife after this British eccentric
genius e-mailed me about my "Commander Keen, Ten Years
On" mockumentary, saying that he could help out with
the hosting and bandwidth problems that I was getting
with various free webhosts. My first impressions were
as follows:

1) The Site: Oh joy, another sprite comic. This is
gonna hurt.
2) The Comics: How unusual; this sprite comic has more
than three panels per episode. And punchlines. And Commander
Keen! And LEMMINGS! Oh boy, this gets better and better
(I'm not being sarcastic by this stage)!
3) The Community: Are these people actually communicating
to each other in a language comprised primarily of Smilies,
or are they all just immature little trolls with nothing
better to do than rant about computer hardware in L33T-
speak? Seriously, topics would have a name full of potential
like "What's your favourite Commander Keen music?" but
there'd be one post and all the rest would be posts
consisting of faces rolling their eyes or poking their
tongue out. Very disappointing. But I can say that now,
because it's not QUITE as bad anymore... heheh:-P

And how has your outlook on Strife changed in the time
you've been here? What keeps bringing you back? (Apart
from the free hosting)

When
I started contributing comics to This Strife, I became
well known in the Strife community, and was accepted
into the fold, as it were. (I don't know what initiation
rituals the non-comic-contributing members had to undertake,
but I've heard rumours that it involved certain farm
animals... ANYway...)
From there I just lapped up all the weekly praise from
my adoring fans and kept making Sluggy comics.

Since then, I've come to know many of the Strifers to
be more than just flamewarring trolls; I now see them
as flamewarring trolls who have feelings, hopes, fears,
dreams, and real lives. Before my involvement in the
Strife community I would never have thought that I could
consider "internet people" as legitimate friends, but
they've changed all that. (Cue soppy music)

Sometime in the future I hope to meet in person with
as many of the Strifers as possible. Let's face it,
if it wasn't for the community, I wouldn't keep coming
back. Nobody would. Not that your comics are bad or
anything, but hey - nobody visits my comics website
when I don't update for 3 months!

What appeals to you the most about comics about game
characters? Whether it be Strife's Duke Nukem or your
own Commander Keen fan fiction?

When
playing those classic platform games from days of yore,
I always had a sense of narrative forming in the back
of my mind; an untold story about what the main character
was seeing, what they were thinking, their motivations,
their personality.
Likewise I soon came to sense this for other characters
in the games, including the enemies. Even the environments
(especially those of Keen 4 and Jill of the Jungle)
seemed to take on a life of their own, suggesting an
historical interconnectedness that went beyond the storyline
that was fed to the user in the README file.

Of course I was reading too much into it all, but the
backgrounds that I conceived for various characters
and environments seemed worthy of relating to others
who had played the game, especially after I read about
the creators' explanations of the games and their characters.
And that's what it's all about, really. The background
info. Otherwise all games would be pretty much the same.

Of course, much of the humour of This Strife is based
on impossible back- stories that would not belong in
the game at all, like action-heroes Duke and Marine
being roommates, Commander Keen bartending, and mindless,
slobbering monsters working at Burger outlets. Well
okay, maybe that last one is kinda believable...

Has being around and helping out of This Strife changed
you or your life in any way?

This
Strife has changed my life! Before I used This Strife
I was a sad pathetic loser, but now I'm a respected
sad pathetic loser! And I owe it all to This Strife!
For 3 easy payments of only $29.99, This Strife can
help YOU TOO!
But seriously, the Strife community encouraged me to
finally get home internet so that I could use ICQ, instead
of the expensive and slow communication methods (ie,
e-mail) available on the university's computer network.

Also, the Strifers' helpful advice and encouragement
was much appreciated for when I was building the Craputer.
I'm sure that someday Maverick's inventions such as
the Carputer (NO, read it again, CAR-puter, not CRAP-uter)
will change my life even more, and maybe change all
our lives. And I will say, "I was there in the beginning."
I hope to put something back into the community, and
help change other people's lives for the better. I will
be the people's governor... oops, wrong speech.

Sum up This Strife in one word (not penii)

UBERmatic! (is that a word?) No wait, I got a better
word "Treehouse", "Clubhouse", takeyour pick

Anything else you'd like to say

When
all the horrors of the world
Come crowding all around
And no-one seems to understand
You've run into the ground